


Meal Plans

by sariane



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel (Comics), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Universe - College/University, Gen, M/M, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, college sucks just fyi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3707983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariane/pseuds/sariane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or, 5 Times Someone Forced Their Meal Plan on Steve Rogers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meal Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [on tumblr](http://sarriane.tumblr.com/post/103570237135) for seratonation. 
> 
> At a lot of American colleges, your student ID doubles as a kind of debit card. Kids who live in dorms are required to get expensive “meal plans” on their cards, and that money is unredeemable. If they don’t spend it before the semester is over, they lose it. This results in some fun experiences, like people you barely know buying you food, or your friends buying you cake mix because HEY DO YOU WANT SOME CAKE MIX? YOU WANT CAKE MIX! 
> 
> At my college, they call it a "ZipCard" after our mascot. Steve's school's mascot is the Avengers. ;) He doesn't live on campus, so he doesn't have a meal plan. 
> 
> Contains spoilers for Game of Thrones s1 and some light background Steve/Bucky.

I.

“That’s ridiculous,” Tony said, grabbing two helpings of spring rolls and setting them on his tray. “None of the Starks would’ve made a good ruler of Westeros anyways, not to mention the fact that the populace in the South would never accept their rule.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Steve muttered, slamming his tray down angrily on the salad bar. “Ned Stark was the perfect choice for Hand, and he would’ve made a great king. He was just and fair, and valued the ideals a king _should._ It’s because of corrupt people like Tyrion that he died!”

“Tyrion isn’t corrupt,” Tony argued, looking down at Steve. “He’s realistic. Which Ned Stark wasn’t.”

“Idealism requires realism,” Steve pointed out. He and Tony got in line to pay for their food, and Tony sighed in frustration.

“You know, the only Stark that should be in charge of Westeros is me,” Tony said, tapping his fingers on the side of his tray. Steve snorted. “And you’ll be my Hand.”

“You wouldn’t introduce democracy?” Steve said, mock offended. Tony laughed.

As Tony stepped up to the cashier, he grabbed Steve’s tray and set it next to his own.

“Both of these are mine,” he said to the cashier, who gave him a bored look before he rang up their meals. Tony pulled out his Student ID, which worked like a debit card, and handed it to the cashier.

“Hey!” Steve protested, already reaching into his wallet for his own ID. “Tony, I’ve got money on my AvengersCard, I can pay for my own damn food.”

“Come on,” Tony said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve got more money in my meal plan than food I can eat. Besides, I’m rich. Let me spot you, starving artist. You need all the food you can get.”

Grumbling, Steve shoved his wallet back in his pocket and took his tray.

“This doesn’t mean I forfeit the argument,” Steve grumbled.

“No, but now you have to pledge fealty to King Tony for feeding your serfs,” Tony cackled. “Ser Steve.”

II.

“I don’t understand why you don’t just _tell him_ ,” Natasha sighed. She took a bite of her shawarma and washed it down with some iced tea. Steve looked down at his own plate. He’d barely touched it. He didn’t have much of an appetite – sometimes his meds did that.

“Because,” Steve said, biting the inside of his cheek. “It’d ruin our friendship.”

“Oh my _god,_ ” Natasha groaned. Through a mouthful of food, she said, “Orgasms do not ruin friendships. They enrich them.”

Steve choked on the bite of shawarma he’d just taken. “ _Natasha,_ ” he said, once he’d taken a drink of water and gotten his breath back. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Not if you don’t get your head out of your ass, no,” she said curtly. She eyed him over her iced tea, a smirk playing on her lips. “Unless you want _me_ to tell him.”

“Remember what happened when you decided to ‘drop hints’ to Sharon?” Steve said dryly. “You _really_ want that to happen again?”

“That’s not fair,” Natasha protested, looking a little sheepish for once. “You didn’t even want to date her!”

“And I definitely didn’t want to after I walked in on you two,” Steve sighed. “C’mon, Natasha, forget it. He’d be crazy to want a skinny little jerk like me.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you,” Natasha said. “He _is_ crazy.”

When the waiter came to give them their bill, Natasha handed over her AvengersCard and said both their meals were  on her.

“Natasha,” Steve protested, but she held up her hand to stop him.

“I like having lunch with you, Steve,” Natasha said, semi-threateningly. “It’d be a shame if you dropped dead because you can’t get a decent meal. We need to get you a boyfriend who’ll feed you up. Or maybe get you to actually _finish_ a meal. You’re gonna get sick if you don’t keep your strength up.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but dug into his shawarma to shut her up.

III.

“You look like death warmed over, Rogers.”

Steve looked up from his Art History textbook to see Carol Danvers standing over his tiny table. She was wearing her Air Force uniform, probably for some ROTC thing. Her cheeks were red from the cold, snowy weather outside the library.

“Nice to see you too, Carol,” Steve said weakly. “I think I’m coming down with something.”

It wasn’t much of a stretch, really – he got sick all the time, especially during cold and flu season, but he still had class today and a quiz tomorrow. He’d thought he’d be safe from Sam’s nagging inside the library.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Carol said, shaking her head. “Let me get you some tea. And maybe a bagel or something. Possibly a medic.”

“Stand down, Captain,” Steve joked, faux saluting. Carol rolled her eyes.

“I’m getting you tea from the café,” Carol said, pulling her lanyard from her backpack for her AvengersCard. “What do you like?”

“I like to _not_ be a freeloader,” Steve replied.

“Too bad,” Carol said. She sat her backpack down in the chair across from Steve. “I’ll be right back."

IV.

Steve set the bottle of NyQuil on the Union's convenience store counter and let out a mental groan when he realized who his cashier was.

“Hey, Rhodey,” he said, his voice wrecked from his sore throat. Steve quickly grabbed a pack of gum and a bag of chips to lean over the NyQuil, hoping Rhodey wouldn’t notice he was buying medicine.

“Oh, damn,” Rhodey said, shaking his head. “Barnes is gonna kill you, you know that?”

“He can’t kill me if I’m already dead,” Steve said. He coughed into his elbow a moment afterwards, punctuating his statement.

“Hold on a minute,” Rhodey said as he stepped out from behind the counter and headed over to the shelves, picking up a container of microwavable soup, a box of tissues, and a bottle of orange juice. He set them on the counter and rang it up, swiping his AvengersCard on the register.

“Rhodey, you don’t have to--” Steve protested.

“Bucky will kill me if I get back to our room and tell him I didn’t take care of you, alright?” Rhodey said, although Steve knew Rhodey was just coming up with excuses. “You ain’t allergic to any of this stuff, right?”

“No, thanks, Rhodey,” Steve sighed. “I’ll pay you back.”

“You pay me back by _getting well_ ,” Rhodey said sternly. “I don’t want your skinny ass dying on me. Get some rest, Rogers.”

V.

Steve was almost asleep when he heard a knock on the front door of his apartment.

He groaned, shoving the covers up over his head, but Sam got the door instead.

“Where is he?”

“I was wondering when you were gonna show up. He’s in his room.”

“Is he – he’s not bad, is he? When Rhodey got back from work, he said –“

“He’s fine. Just a cold, far as I can tell.”

“I hope it stays like that. I swear, if he gets pneumonia again…”

Steve rolled over in his bed quietly. He tried breathing as deeply as he could through his mouth, hoping that Bucky would go away if he thought Steve was asleep.

The door to Steve’s room creaked open, letting a sliver of light into his dark bedroom. Bucky shut the door behind him and creeped closer to Steve’s bed.

“I know you’re awake, punk,” Bucky said, turning on Steve’s lamp. “I brought you some soup from the cafeteria. You can go to sleep after you eat it and get some fluids, alright?”

“Thanks, mom,” Steve said sarcastically, his voice stuffy and muffled. He rolled over, feeling for his glasses on the bedside table. Bucky handed them to him.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Bucky said. “Your mom was a damn saint. Someone needs to take care of you, Steve.” He grabbed a few pillows from Steve’s floor and helped prop him up in bed.

“I don’t need taking care of,” Steve said, even as he accepted the warm chicken noodle soup from Bucky. He stared at it for a moment, feeling his stomach twist. He was hungry, but he _hated_ how everyone treated him when he was sick.

“Like hell,” Bucky snorted. “Eat your damn soup. Stop being a stubborn ass.”

“Watch your mouth, Barnes,” Steve said, taking a reluctant sip of the soup. It was pretty good, not that he could taste much.

“Fuck you,” Bucky smiled.

“You wish,” Steve muttered saucily. Bucky laughed.

“Maybe when you feel up to it,” he said, ruffling Steve’s hair. Steve felt his ears warm, but it was probably just the soup.

He quickly ate up the rest of his soup, and then drank the water Bucky offered him.

“Bucky,” Steve said quietly, once he was settled back in bed. “Thanks. But I’m fine, really. You should go home and study.”

Bucky sighed heavily. He kicked off his shoes and lifted the covers to Steve’s bed. “Budge up,” he said.

Steve scooted aside with a heavy sigh, and Bucky crawled underneath the covers next to him.

“Bucky—“ Steve started. He cut himself off. “You’re gonna get sick.”

“I ain’t going anywhere,” Bucky said.

Steve pretended not to enjoy it as he leaned on Bucky’s shoulder and closed his eyes.

_The End._


End file.
